


Reckless

by Hauntedsunshine



Category: Homestuck
Genre: Alpha kids - Freeform, Alternate Universe, Bro - Freeform, Dad - Freeform, F/F, F/M, Homeless kids, Homestuck - Freeform, Hurt/Comfort, I'm Sorry, I'm bad at tags, John/Dave - Freeform, M/M, Minor Character Death, Minor Violence, More characters and ships to come, Mute!John, PTSD, Rose Lalonde - Freeform, Runawaystuck, There will be many chapters, beta kids - Freeform, dave strider - Freeform, dave/john - Freeform, jade harley - Freeform, john egbert - Freeform, no sburb session, runaways - Freeform, they're all so sad, tw abuse
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-08-08
Updated: 2016-09-12
Packaged: 2018-08-07 13:21:53
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 3,350
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7716334
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Hauntedsunshine/pseuds/Hauntedsunshine
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>“Turn on a light bro, I can’t even see you.” He shook his head and signed something again. “John, seriously, I have no idea what you’re saying.” After a moment of stillness, he stood up and moved out of the camera frame. A light flicked on and John sat back down as the screen adjusted. Your brow furrowed as the picture cleared. It had been too dark to see before, behind the thick frame of his glasses a large, purple bruise covered most of the left half of his face. There was another one flowering on his jawline and his lip was cracked and bleeding. “What the fuck.” Your voice was low and wavering. John was staring at the ground, shifting nervously, but looked up when you spoke. He gave an apologetic shrug and rubbed his right fist on his chest in circular motions. ‘Sorry.’</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Your heart's in your mouth

The sound of sirens and squealing tires jar you from an uneasy slumber. The flashing blue and red lights blind you as you grope the ground beside you for your shades. Shouts and the thump of running feet overwhelm you as you slip the sunglasses on, enabling you to see the commotion around you. Cop cars line the road under the bridge that you and countless other homeless kids sleep beneath. Your eyes widen at the sight of policemen cuffing kids and shoving them into cars and you shake the sleeping bag beside you to wake John, the kid could sleep through the damn apocalypse. He sits up, blinking blearily in the bright light while you glance anxiously between him and the approaching cops. “We gotta go.” You hiss, gathering your things and his hastily. He shoves his cracked glasses on his face and you see him shrink back when he sees the scene before you. He follows your lead and grabs his few possessions and the two of you stumble down the hill as fast as you can. You almost fall and hear John’s sharp intake of breath as he runs into the vest protected chest of the law. The man, taller than even you at 6’1, towers over John and grabs his arms. You stand frozen, panic flowing through you, they can’t take John, you can’t let them, but your feet refuse to move until a rough hand clamps down on your shoulder. The man who caught John drags him to one of the cars, his struggles having no effect. You glance around and realize the fight is over, you two are among the last stragglers. Everyone else has fled or been captured. Your shoulders slump in defeat and you let the officer drag you to the car. Your panic flares up again when you realize it’s not the same car John’s in. Before you can protest a hand pushes your head down and guides you into the vehicle next to three other kids that you vaguely recognize. A cop slides into the driver’s seat and starts the car as the one in front of you begins to pull away, John’s face pressed to the back window, blue eyes wide and anxious.

The streets pass in a blur and it’s silent except for the shuffling of feet and the occasional static on the scanner. After fifteen minutes and forty-three seconds (You have a knack for always knowing the exact time) of driving the car rolls to a stop in front of the Portland Police Department. You wait nervously for the cop to open your door, knee bouncing, poker face providing you your usual stony expression. The door opens and you force yourself to be casual, stepping into the rainy Portland twilight and filing into the station with your ride mates. Inside there are about thirty kids lining the walls, all dirty and tired looking. The cops at their desks, overworked and annoyed at being so busy at 11:21 at night, are talking to some of the kids and filling out paperwork. You spot John seated in front of Officer Noir, as his nameplate reads, staring resolutely ahead, mouth clamped shut as the officer attempts to question him. You squeeze your way into the crowded room, pushing people out of the way until you reach them. Snatching an empty chair you swing it around and straddle it in front of Noir’s desk, catching John’s eye and giving him a wink even though he can’t see it behind you shades. “So Officer, what seems to be the problem?” You ask, smirking a bit. You catch John rolling his eyes at you from the corner of your eye and your smirk grows. Noir sighs and glares at you, he looks out of place in his uniform, you think it might be the hat. “Look, I don’t wanna be here any more than you punks do. But we both have to so we might as well deal. And if you shit kids would just answer my goddamn questions I wouldn’t have to be here all night!” He takes a deep breath and grits his teeth. “Now, how old are you, both of you?” You sit up straighter and put on you best Mr. Brady voice. “Why I’m twenty-five sir, and still getting younger, if you know what I mean.” Noir glares at you, un-amused. _‘You’re a dumbass, you know,’_ John signs at you and you flip him off. “Kid, if you don’t stop with these fucking shenanigans both of you are gonna spend the week in juvie.” Juvie’s bad news, especially for a pretty dude like you, and you can tell John’s not to keen on the idea either. “Eighteen. Both of us.” You say, the smirk disappearing from your face. Noir narrows his eyes, glancing at the two of you. He points at you. “You, maybe could pass, but you,” He moves his accusing finger toward John. “You look about fifteen.” John scowls and slumps back in his chair, he hates how his short stature and boyish looks always make him look younger than he is. Noir is still glaring at you, he curses and reaches for his radio, grumbling about the juvie officials and the amount of paperwork this is going to cause him. “Alright, alright, we’re just messing with you.” You jump in before he can unclip the radio from his belt. “Seventeen.” John glances at you nervously and you grab his hand on impulse, lacing your shaking fingers together. Noir sighs, “dammit, look, I’m not trying to be the bad guy here, but you both are going to have to go back to your parents or in the system.” He glances down at your clasped hands and shoots you an apologetic glare, a look you didn’t know was possible. He hands you both a few forms to fill out and shoos you away from his desk, welcoming the next kid with a glare and some mumbled cursing. 

You and John walk back to the lobby, hoping to slip out in the confusion, but face defeat in the form of two rather large officers standing guard at the doors. Instead, the two of you find a bit of unoccupied floor and sit, leaning against the water stained wall behind you. Silence falls as you methodically fill out the forms, the questioning of the other street kids becoming background noise. You try to only lie on the stuff that’s none of the cops’ business and restrain your desire to throw in a few snarky remarks. You finish pretty quickly and watch John for a while before your lack of sleep catches up to you. Leaning against John you doze off into a fitful slumber.

One hour, fifty-three minutes and thirteen seconds later you’re jolted awake by a loud crash. Across the room some kid on a bad trip is kicking a chair around and screaming. A few cops restrain him and force him over to the holding cells. You’re still watching the kid when you hear the door open, humid Portland air wafting in. John’s hand grips your arm and he stands up, bringing you with him and dragging you to a more populated area of the room, out of sight of the doorway. You shoot him a confused look before he signs, _‘Don’t look, but we’ve got to get out of here.’_ Of course the first thing you do is look towards the entrance, but a hand on your cheek forces your head back to face John. “John, dude, come on.” You ignore his attempts to sign at you with one hand and hold his other wrist to stop him from moving your head again. You look over and immediately wish you hadn’t. “Shit.” John’s stopped trying to sign and just watches you carefully. You look again, and this time you know he sees you. You stare at the ground, watching his shoes out of the corner of your eye as he approaches. The scuffed converse stop a foot away from your own and you reluctantly look up, meeting his shades. “Sup bro.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is my first fic so please be kind! Any comments or criticisms are welcome!


	2. Your gut's on the ground

It was six months ago you’d gotten the message from John. Your bro wasn’t home, as usual, and you were killing time dicking around on your computer, trying to deal with the oppressive Texas heat. You were in the middle of a particularly witty rap about Ben Affleck that you were certain Rose was enjoying when you received a pester from John. You were a bit surprised because he hadn’t been on for a while, you figured he was grounded or something. Usually the two of you never went more than a few hours without talking, so needless to say, you missed him a bit. In the most ironic way possible. You expected some message about his week; about that girl he maybe had a crush on; about how unfair it was that he got grounded. But all you got was:

ECTOBIOLOGIST started pestering TURNTECHGODHEAD:

EB: facetime me

ECTOBIOLOGIST ceased pestering TURNTECHGODHEAD

Confused, you grabbed your phone and donned your shades, setting up facetime. Although you, John, Jade, and Rose often set up group Skype calls, the two of you rarely used video chat. John’s always found it awkward, because he can’t talk, even though you and Rose both know ASL, and Jade’s perfectly content to wait for him to type, he still thinks it’s weird. The video connected and portrayed the grainy image of John, perpetually messy hair, thick glasses that only he could pull off, sitting in his… bathroom? “What’s up dude?” The light on his end was dim, you could barely see him as he gave you a small, nervous grin and signed something you couldn’t make out. “Turn on a light bro, I can’t even see you.” He shook his head and signed something again. “John, seriously, I have no idea what you’re saying.” After a moment of stillness, he stood up and moved out of the camera frame. A light flicked on and John sat back down as the screen adjusted. Your brow furrowed as the picture cleared. It had been too dark to see before, behind the thick frame of his glasses a large, purple bruise covered most of the left half of his face. There was another one flowering on his jawline and his lip was cracked and bleeding. “What the fuck.” Your voice was low and wavering. John was staring at the ground, shifting nervously, but looked up when you spoke. He gave an apologetic shrug and rubbed his right fist on his chest in circular motions. _‘Sorry.’_

Your mind was racing at a thousand miles an hour but you tried to maintain a casual, chill demeanor. “John what the hell happened man?” You managed to choke out. He only shook his head, his chin tucking into his chest. “You get in a fight or something?” You tried to keep your tone light, but he jerked a bit. When he finally made eye contact with you through the screen you realized he was crying. You hadn’t seen John cry in two years, not since his dad died. “John seriously man, are you okay?” Your anxiety was through the roof, you knew John had been sent to some majorly shitty foster homes in the past couple years, but nothing like this. He brought his hands up to his chest and signed haltingly, _‘I can’t do this anymore Dave.’ _He was full on sobbing now, his entire body shaking, making reading his hands difficult. You hoped you hadn’t heard him right. “Hey, hey, it’s gonna be okay, don’t talk like that, we’re gonna fix this, don’t worry bro.” You rambled on for a bit, more to calm yourself down than him. He was about to sign something else when a loud bang and a stream of light cut him off. John glanced up and immediately shrank back, signing _‘sorry’_ repeatedly. A shrill woman began to yell and you caught a glimpse of a well manicured hand swinging towards John as his laptop was slammed shut. __

__In the sudden silence you realized how labored your breathing was. They were fast, short intakes of breath and your hands were shaking. You couldn’t get your head straight and you kept replaying the video call over and over. Somewhere in the back of your mind you registered that you were having a panic attack. Sliding your hands under your shades and pressing your palms to your eyes, you tried to calm down. You just felt so damn helpless, your best friend was getting his ass kicked and needed real help and here you were sitting pretty in your nice apartment with your alive and well bro and yet you were the one panicking._ _

__You stood abruptly from your desk, causing your chair to skitter back against the hardwood floor, and began pacing around your cluttered room. You ran a hand through your unkempt hair and shot John a few worried texts._ _

__TG: hey man you okay  
TG: i mean obviously youre not  
TG: just text me when you can  
TG: shit  
TG: we’ll figure this out dude  
TG: i promise 

__You threw your phone onto your bed and slumped back into your desk chair, resting your elbows on your knees and your head in your hands. The sound of a key turning and the front door slamming alerted you to the arrival of your bro. You wished more than anything that things could be the way they were when you were a kid, able to talk to him about anything. The two of you had been close, you had told him about all your problems and he had let you help with some of his robotics projects. Strifes were fun and he never went too hard on you, sometimes he even let you win. But as you got older the two of you drifted apart. His puppet porn empire really took off and he was gone all the time on business. You met John and then Jade and then Rose and had your friends to talk to instead of him. Now any conversations you tried to have were forced and awkward and short._ _

__His heavy footfalls passed your room and paused outside the door, you froze, waiting, hoping that he’d be the first to reach out and sense how much you desperately needed him. The drawn out silence was broken as he muttered something and left your door, secluding himself in his work room. You sighed and swiveled around to face your computer, maybe one of the girls would know what to do._ _

__TURNTECHGODHEAD started pestering TENTACLETHERAPIST and GARDENGNOSTIC_ _

__TG: we need to talk  
GG: hi dave!  
TT: Can I assume this is about John?  
TG: holy shit  
TG: howd you know  
TG: is this some creepy psychic voodoo shit  
TG: cos i want zero part in that  
TG: i dont wanna be gettin cursed all up in here  
TG: adding a whole nother steaming pile of shit to the irons i already got in the fire  
TG: this is nonsense rose  
TG: frankly im offended  
TG: cant believe youd curse your best bro  
TT: Considering he’s the subject of most of your conversations it wasn’t a difficult conclusion to jump to  
TT: Also, considering the fact that you’re rambling more than usual, I’m going to assume it’s an alarming matter  
TG: …  
TG: i dont even talk about him that much jesus  
GG: you kinda do, but that’s okay! It’s cute! In a weird way!  
GG: so what did you actually wanna talk about Dave?  
GG: I’m guessing not rose’s voodoo powers  
TG: i know its a shock  
TG: but no  
TG: im just  
TG: im really worried about john  
TG: i think theres some bad shit going down that he cant tell us about  
TG: and i think its hurting him  
TG: and shit i dont know what to do  
TG: but ill be dammed if im just gonna sit here on my ass when hes getting the shit kicked outta him  
GG: Woah woah wait!!! Someone’s hurting John??  
TT: I may know what this is in reference to. Something to do with his home situation?  
TG: yeah  
TT: I also noticed something was off about this new foster home. I did speak to him about this a while ago and he confessed that all was not well. I contacted Child Protective Services and they told me they would look into it. However, it seems as though nothing has come of that.  
GG: What? His foster home?  
TG: well shit  
TG: what can we do can we call again  
TG: call the police this time or something  
GG: What is going on!!!???  
TT: Jade, it would seem that John’s foster parents are not the most loving family and are not treating him as well as they should. And Dave I believe calling the police would be a bit drastic. We have no real evidence and if CPS couldn’t help I sincerely doubt the police could.  
TG: no evidence  
TG: rose you didnt see his face  
TG: he was fucking beat to shit  
TG: black eye split lip the whole shebang  
GG: He’s being abused? Dave’s right we have to do something!  
TG: damn straight harley  
TG: theres gotta be something we can do here  
TG: call cps again  
TG: call some hotline  
TG: call fucking oprah jesus i dont know  
TT: Dave, we just have to make sure he can trust and confide in us. I mean, he’s all the way in Washington, there is really nothing we can do. 

__You pushed your chair out from your desk and slammed your hands down on either side of your keyboard. You had an idea. A totally moronic, probably hopeless, definitely crazy idea. But it was something._ _

__TG: rose you glorious bastard_ _

__TURNTECHGODHEAD ceased pestering TENTACLETHERAPIST and GARDENGNOSTIC_ _

__TT: … What  
GG: I have a bad feeling about this_ _

__You slammed your laptop shut and leapt out of your chair, tugging your fingers through your hair. You tore open your closet door and began stuffing clothes into an oversized backpack._ _

__In the back of your mind you knew this was stupid, you knew you weren’t thinking any of this through. But you couldn’t bring yourself to care. You couldn’t just sit there doing nothing and you had a chance, however slim, to help him._ _

__Two hours later, feeling restless and nervous, you checked off the items in your pack._ _

__Clothes? Check. Some canned goods? Check. Doritos? Check. Three bottles of AJ? Check. Cash from Bro’s “secret” emergency fund on top of the fridge? Check._ _

__You zipped the bag and sank into your bed. With your leg bouncing and hands shaking you scrolled through your phone, anxiously awaiting Bro’s departure._ _

__After what seemed like an eternity, you heard the shower running and not long after that, the front door slammed and a key turned in the lock. You bolted out of your bed and raced to the kitchen window, peeking out between the blinds. Your Bro took his sweet ass time getting in his car, but finally the beat up pick up pulled away from the curb. You waited until you couldn’t see his tail lights before slipping your phone into your pocket and grabbing your backpack. You halted in front of the door and turned to face your home. A wave of fear and guilt washed over you as you stared at your living room, signs of you and Bro scattered about the room. On impulse, you snatched a polaroid off the fridge. It was from New Years three years ago, you and Bro wearing party hats with party blowers in your mouths, standing on your couch. His arm is slung over your shoulders and the camera caught the rare sight of both of you genuinely smiling. You smiled faintly, gently fingering the photograph, before you slipped it into the side pocket of your backpack. You spun on your heel and quickly strode out the front door, not allowing yourself time to change your mind._ _

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry it took me so long to get this up! College just started so things have been pretty hectic! The next chapter should come a lot sooner though!
> 
> Thank you so much for all the feedback, I tried to make the suggested changes, please let me know if there's anything I can be doing better!


End file.
